Liberalism (Maoism)
Liberalism, in the sense used by Mao Zedong and Maoists, refers to individualist, self-centered, petty bourgeois behavior and conduct which disrupts party work and runs contrary to the will of the communist organization.
Examples of liberalism, in this sense, are elaborated in Mao Zedong's famous 1937 essay, Combat Liberalism. Liberalism includes, "to let things slide for the sake of peace and friendship when a person has clearly gone wrong," "to be among the masses and fail to conduct propaganda and agitation or speak at meetings or conduct investigations and inquiries among them," and "to see someone harming the interests of the masses and yet not feel indignant, or dissuade or stop him or reason with him, but to allow him to continue."
Communists who engage in liberalism often have an "employee" mentality to the masses and may also violate democratic centralism. Those who commit liberal mistakes are said to be behaving like liberals as opposed to revolutionary communists.[1]
Further reading
- Combat Liberalism (1937), by Mao Zedong